Self-powered surgical drill



Feb.V 11, 1964 D. B. HoRNER 3,120,845

SELF-POWERED SURGICAL DRILL Filed Feb. 2o, 1961 IN VEN TOR.

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United States Patent O 3,120,845 SELF-PGWERED SURGICAL DRILL David B. Horner, 7312 W. 93rd Place, Los Angeles 45, Calif.

Filed Feb. 20, 1961, Ser. No. 90,400 2 Claims. (Cl. 12S- 310) This invention relates to an improved selfapowered surgical tool or instrument which is exemplified herein as a self-contained battery powered surgical drill provided with manual crank means for driving the drill chuck in the event of stalling or failure of the power drive means. The device of the invention is a portable one not dependent upon an external source of power. In the event that the driving motor should fail or stall, for example, as a result of the drill bit becoming stuck when drilling a bone, the drill bit may be manually turned to release it and may be manually driven to continue drilling. The frame or housing of the unit is sealed by seals so that it is water-tight and can be sterilized as a whole by being put in a solution in an auto-clave. Its sealed construction provides resistance to high temperatures and high ambient pressures, and embodies means to render the same explosion and hre proof in the presence of anesthetic gases.

The invention as brieiiy described in the foregoing fulfills a need for a tool or instrument having these particular characteristics, particularly by reason of the manual over-riding drive making it possible to release the bit in the event that it becomes bound in the hole and to manually drive it in the event of stalling or failure of the power drive or otherwise. The manual override is irnportant because the motor drive would be a considerable drag on the system if it had to be turned while driving with a manual crank. The invention fills the need as stated providing a tool or instrument adapted for general use or emergency use where sources of power might not be available. Its particular application as exemplified herein is in a surgical drill but it may also have other applications.

The primary object of the invention is to fulfill the need as described above of a self-contained tool or instrument having the particular characteristics outlined.

Another object of the invention is to provide a selfcontained tool or instrument as described having power drive means for driving the drill shaft including an overriding clutch driven by the power drive means and a manual crank whereby the drill shaft may be driven for rotating a bit without turning the power drive means.

Another object is to provide a tool or instrument as in the foregoing in a housing of pistol grip type having a battery powered motor in the housing with trigger control of the battery drive.

Another object is to provide a tool or instrument as in the foregoing wherein the drill shaft is provided with water-tight seals at the points where it extends through the walls of the housing.

Another object is to provide a tool or instrument as in the foregoing provided with an attachment in the form of an adapter fitting constructed to attach to the frame in screw-threaded relationship, the adapted fitting having a rotatable shaft journalled in it arranged to have splined engagement with the drill shaft of the tool or instrument and having a chuck for engagement with a drill bit or other instrumentality.

Further objects and additional advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and annexed drawings, wherein:

FIG. l is a cross-sectional view of a preferred form of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2 2 of FIG. l; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3 3 of FIG. 1.

Referring now more in detail to FIG. 1 of the drawings, numeral 10 designates the frame or housing of a preferred form of the instrument or tool shown by Way of example as a surgical drill. The housing is of pistol-grip configuration having a handle or grip 11 and a housing part 12 in which is journalled the drill shaft 15 and drive motor 16. The shaft 15 is journalled in bearings 18 and 19 in the housing which are adjacent flanges 21 and 22, respectively, on the shaft. The bearing 19 is in a bore in the housing 10 and adjacent to it are dis-cs 23 of appropriate sealing material so that the interior of the housing is sealed water-tight, the seals 23 being held by the threaded member 25 threaded into the bore in which the bearing 19 is disposed.

The bearing 18 is in a bore in an extendnig boss 26 on the housing 10 which has an extending threaded nipple 27. The shaft 15 is similarly sealed adjacent the bearing 18 by sealing members 28 held in by threaded member 30 threaded into the bore in which bearing 1S is disposed.

Numeral 31 designates generally an adapted member which is threaded onto the threaded nipple 27 and which will be described in detail presently.

The motor 16 has a shaft 33 on which is a gear 34 meshing with gear teeth 55 on an over-riding clutch 37 on the shaft 15 adjacent an extended part 3S of the housing 1t). The clutch 37 is an overriding clutch and may be any of various types known in the art. The clutch as shown is of a type having a cylindrical body 41 having in it a plurality of openings of increasing radial extent as designated at 42 in FIG. 3. Disposed in th-ese openings between the cylindrical body part 41 and the shaft 15 are cylindrical roller members 43 having pointed tapered ends held in suitable depressions formed in the member 41. The clutch 37 may be held in position axially on the shaft 15 by collars 45 and 46 attached to the shaft by set screws as shown. In operation, the motor 16 may drive the clutch 37 in a clockwise direction looking at FIG. 3 so that the body 41 moves in a clockwise direction. The result of this is that the rollers 43 are squeezed between the bottom surfaces of the openings 42 and the shaft 15 so that the frictional engagement causes the shaft 15 to rotate with the member 41. The shaft 15 is provided with a removable crank 49 having a square extension 50 adapted to fit into a square hole 51 in the end of the shaft 15. The shaft 15 may be rotated in a clockwise direction by the crank 49 looking at FIG, 3 and when this is done, the shaft is rotated independently of the motor 16. This is true because when the shaft 15 is rotated in a clockwise direction, it tends to move the rollers 43 to the wider part of the openings or cavities 42 so that there is no frictional engagement or holding as between the shaft 15 and the clutch member 41. Thus, it may be seen that the clutch 37 is an over-riding clutch through which the shaft may be rotated by the motor 16 and the shaft 15 may be freely rotated by the crank independently of the motor.

The handle grip 11 is generally cylindrical and has a bore in which is received a battery 53 for powering the motor 16. The bottom end of the grip or handle 11 is closed by a cap 54 having an extending part 55 which threads into the end of the handle 11 as shown. The over-hanging part of the cap 54 has an annular groove 56 in which is received an O-ring 57 which seals against the end of the grip or handle 11. In the cap 54 is a coil spring 59 which bears against the end of the battery 53 urging it upwardly in the grip or handle. At the upper end of the bore in the handle 11 is an insulative disc member 60 in which are disposed contact terminals or contacts 61 and 62 in the form of receptacles adapted to receive or have inserted into them the contact terminals or prongs 63 and 64 on the battery 53. The terminals 61 and 62 are connected by wires 67 and 68 to a micro-switch 70 and the motor 16, respectively.

The micro-switch 70 maybe a known commercial type and it is mounted in a boss l72 formed in the frame or housing and preferably this mounting is sealed to insure that the housing 10 is completely water-tight.

The micro-switch 70 has an extending operating finger 74 which abuts against an operating trigger 75 pivoted on a pin 76 mounted between parts of the frame or housing 10. The trigger 75 is normally biased outwardly by a coil spring 77 extending between an opening in the trigger and a similar opening in a partof the grip or handle 11. The micro-switch 70 is connected to the motor 16 by a wire 78.

The end of shaft extending from the housing 10 is splined at its end as designated at '78 and as may be seen in FIG. 2. The attachment or adapter unit 31 has a housing at its end forming an internally threaded coupling 80 which threads onto the threaded nipple 27 previously described.

The adapter 31 is generally cylindrical and journalled within it is a shaft lvwhich is journalled in a bearing 82 in a bore in the enlarged end part 83 of the adapter unit. The shaft 81 is enlarged at its end to form a fitting 84 which is internally serrated so as to lit on axially with a slip t onto the splined end 78 of the shaft 15. The bearing 82 is sealed by asealing member 86 in the bore which receives the bearing 82 and adjacent to it, the sealing member 86 being held by a threaded member 87 threaded into this bore. Numeral 89 designates a drill bit which is shown threaded into the shaft 81. The shaft 81 may of course be provided at its end with a chuck or other type of holding means for holding a bit or other instrumentality which is to be driven by the tool. With the adapter unit 31 removed, the housing 10 is in the form of an extremely compact and completely sealed unit which may be sterilized in the manner described in the foregoing and which provides a temperature and pressure resistant unit. The adapter unit 31 makes it possible to adapt the unit for driving diierent types of tools or instrumentalities.

From the foregoing, the characteristics and operation of the unit will be clear to those skilled in the art. The unit is completely portable and may be handily carried in a physicians bag or instrument case. In use, it is simply gripped by the handle 11 and the motor 16 is energized by pulling the trigger 75. Should the bit become stuck or bound in the hole when drilling a bone for example, it may be freed simply by putting on the crank 49 and manually rotating the shaft 15. In this manner, the bit may be released whereas otherwise considerable difliculty might be encountered in doing so. At any time that the motor 16 might stall, the bit may be manually driven by the crank in the manner described or in the event of failure of the battery or motor, the tool may be manually operated in this manner. When being driven by the motor 16, the shaft 15 is rotated through the over-riding clutch 37. When the shaft 15 is being driven by the crank 14, it rotates freely with respect to the clutch 37 in the manner described above so that the motor 16 does not act as a drag on the operation of the shaft. The interior of the housing 10 is completely sealed as described so that it may be sterilized as a wholev by being put in a solution in an auto-clave.

The foregoing disclosure is representative of a preferred form of the invention and is to be interpreted in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense, the invention to be accorded the full scope of the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A power instrument for surgical use and adapted to be auto-claved and explosion proof in the presence of anesthetic gases, comprising a vapor impervious hollow frame, said frame having a rotatable shaft mounted therein, said frame having an electric motor mounted therein and drivingly connected to said shaft, said frame having means providing a hand grip, both ends of said shaft projecting from said housing, one end having tool driving means thereon and the other end having means for driving engagement by a manual means for manually rotating said shaft, sealing means between both ends of said shaft and said frame, said means drivingly connecting said motor to said shaft comprising an over-riding clutch whereby the shaft may be driven by the manual means without rotating the motor.

2. A tool as in claim 1 including a battery mounted within said frame for supplying current to said motor, a switch for energizing said motor energizeable from exteriorally of said frame, said frame having an opening therein for insertion of said battery, a closure for said opening, and means sealing said closure to said frame.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,158,758 Westman Nov. 2, 1915 1,162,253 Richard Nov. 30, 1915 1,236,803 Williams Aug. 1,4, 1917 2,244,683 Fisher June 10, 1941 2,261,230 Cox et al. Nov. 4, 1941 2,479,750 Lewandowski Aug. 23, 1949 `2,710,000 Cromer et al. June 7, 1955 2,728,365 Austin Dec. 27,k 1955 2,789,597 LaTorre Apr. 23, 1957 2,829,285 Steiner et al. Apr. 1, 1958 2,848,904 Wilson et al. Aug. 26, 1958 2,880,628 Dobrohruska Apr. 7, 1959 3,026,744 Rouse Mar. 27, 1962V 

1. A POWER INSTRUMENT FOR SURGICAL USE AND ADAPTED TO BE AUTO-CLAVED AND EXPLOSION PROOF IN THE PRESENCE OF ANESTHETIC GASES, COMPRISING A VAPOR IMPERVIOUS HOLLOW FRAME, SAID FRAME HAVING A ROTATABLE SHAFT MOUNTED THEREIN, SAID FRAME HAVING AN ELECTRIC MOTOR MOUNTED THEREIN AND DRIVINGLY CONNECTED TO SAID SHAFT, SAID FRAME HAVING MEANS PROVIDING A HAND GRIP, BOTH ENDS OF SAID SHAFT PROJECTING FROM SAID HOUSING, ONE END HAVING TOOL DRIVING MEANS THEREON AND THE OTHER END HAVING MEANS FOR DRIVING ENGAGEMENT BY A MANUAL MEANS FOR MANUALLY ROTATING SAID SHAFT, SEALING MEANS BETWEEN BOTH ENDS OF SAID SHAFT AND SAID FRAME, SAID MEANS DRIVINGLY CONNECTING SAID MOTOR TO SAID SHAFT COMPRISING AN OVER-RIDING CLUTCH WHEREBY THE SHAFT MAY BE DRIVEN BY THE MANUAL MEANS WITHOUT ROTATING THE MOTOR. 